Russian censorship approach: Threaten Facebook, Twitter and Google’s bottom lines
The Russian communications oversight authority has put Facebook, Twitter and Google on notice. In May the agency, known by its acronym Roskomnadzor, sent a letter to the companies reminding them that they need to comply with the country’s Internet laws.
Roskomnadzor has vast powers: It can summarily order Internet service providers to shut off access to websites, as it has done with several independent news and analysis sites; it can levy fines; and it can ask the prosecutor’s office to launch criminal charges where it perceives a violation. In the case of foreign companies, it can team up with other agencies to drive them out of Russia. This is how contemporary Russian censorship works: by waving the stick of financial consequences.
Back in the Soviet Union, censorship had a straightforward structure: a centralized agency called Glavlit (Literature Directorate) had censors posted to newspapers and publishing houses. These people pre-cleared everything that was slated for publication. All periodicals and publishing houses belonged to the state then, so ultimately the editors and the censors worked for the same boss. The system worked smoothly. But now many media companies are privately owned. Enter market-based censorship.
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Russian flag and a 3D model of the Facebook logo is seen through a
cutout of the Twitter logo in this photo illustration taken in Zenica,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 22, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
Russian flag and a 3D model of the Facebook logo is seen through a
cutout of the Twitter logo in this photo illustration taken in Zenica,
Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 22, 2015. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic
